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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768269">in ink are we bound</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowheres/pseuds/knowheres'>knowheres</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoopys/pseuds/snoopys'>snoopys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, M/M, Soulmate AU, fluff if you squint, sometimes funny because their friendship is cute, this has character death at the end so, this is overall just really sad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:41:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowheres/pseuds/knowheres, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoopys/pseuds/snoopys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a world that at your 18th birthday, you finally get the tattoo that tells you the first name of your soulmate. Na Jaemin, the one who dreams and has prepared his whole life for a good future—specifically to enter Seoul University, finally turns 18 and gets a tattoo that makes or breaks his life.  After a prank gone wrong, his life takes a 360 degree turn, resulting to a series of unfortunate events.</p><p>One of the named unfortunate events was that he meets Lee Jeno, again. After believing all his life that he was only constructed in his imagination. And he doesn't know what to do next.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in ink are we bound</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>okay, &gt;taps mic. before you go on and start reading our hardwork—literally blood, sweat and tears given and sacrificed at 5 or 3 am, depends on who was writing. we want to say that we hope there won't be much disappointments presented to you in the run of this story. thank you for even clicking on it! we appreciate that. goodluck with reading, because i, the other writer, swear that this is beyond of your dose of angst on the daily. kind of read at your risk, if i must say haha. anyway, thanks for dropping by this note. enjoy the read!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In a couple of hours, it's Jaemin's birthday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In any year, he would have already gone to sleep. Usually because he isn’t particularly enthusiastic about growing a year older. In fact, it annoyed him to have an entire day supposedly to himself, but instead become a day where </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> has to be nice to everyone and be </span>
  <em>
    <span>thankful</span>
  </em>
  <span> for it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It felt like a complete chore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To smile back at everyone who slips a quick happy birthday your way, greeting distant relatives you haven’t seen since the day of your Christening or something, and worst of all: seeing your grandparents and having them aggressively tugging on your cheeks like they’re in a game of tug-of-war with themselves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It all just seemed so basic, so redundant for him that he even classifies it rather traumatizing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But this year, Jaemin personally can not wait for the clock to strike midnight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's his 18th birthday, something about the number always made it stand out amongst the rest of his age in his remaining living years. Aside from breaking free from childhood and stepping into legality, it was the 18th birthday that signifies the beginning of your journey into meeting your </span>
  <em>
    <span>soulmate</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rumor has it that at midnight, you will see your skin ink itself slowly and carefully with letters that form the first name of your soulmate. In other stories, there was a rule that you'll have to sleep before the tattoo appears on your wrist, if you don’t sleep, it won’t show up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both stories were worth testing out the waters. That's why Jaemin was still typing away on his laptop at 10 PM, wanting to try out both rumors and see which one would appear true. No expectations, he tells himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t quite get a grip on his reason why he’s stoked for this soulmate thing. He’s never really fallen in love before, maybe a few crushes here and there, but pursuing someone as far as imagining his entire life with them… it’s insane to him to even envision himself at that point of his life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His typing fingers head for a halt, eyes darting to the corner of the screen to check the time displayed. It was 10:01 when he last checked, and now it’s only 10:03. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin rubs his face with his palms, eyes already growing tired from staring into the screen for too long. Inside, he laughs to himself, finding it funny how a guy who finds the idea of an immortal bond by magic ink absolutely absurd, genuinely invested in the said absurdity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lays down for a moment, listening to the faint sound of his parents from outside of his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stupid</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thinks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This whole thing is stupid.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He then hears a knock. "Nana, sweetie?” his mother’s sweet voice comes muffled through the door. “Are you getting ready for bed?" She asks, leaning into his doorframe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin sits up and huffs, hands in his hair. "Yeah, I guess," he mumbles, almost to himself, as he stretches his arms to try and keep himself awake. He then checks the time again and it's only 10:05.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, if you can't sleep, you can always drink some milk downstairs," his mother offers, a sweet smile etched on her gentle face. Jaemin, on the other hand, forces every muscle on his face not to make a scowl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After all, it’s not his mother’s fault she doesn’t know Jaemin hates milk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He offers her a small nod, before he hears her shuffling away from the door. At the same time, his laptop dings along with a notification from his friends’ chatroom. He stares at it for a moment before clicking on it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s only a couple of hours before you find out who your soulmate is!” read the message. A smile comes up to his lips as he re-reads the message again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He types out a reply to it fast, “I’m about to be the luckiest guy on earth, huh?”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took a minute before the chatroom dinged again. “Luckiest guy? Some soulmates are pricks at the beginning though, be careful about that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin pouts. There were many possibilities with soulmates, especially if you haven’t met them yet. Although, Jaemin kind of hopes it was someone he’s already met, maybe someone he had bumped into in the grocery store or maybe  one of the people he smiles at in the library when he locks eyes with them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just the slightest sense of familiarity would be enough for him, really.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His laptop dinged again. “What if your soulmate was that kindergarten boy you liked playing with?” his best friend, Renjun, says in the chatroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The one he can’t shut up about ever since?” Donghyuck then interrupts, earning a ‘like’ reaction from the latter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What was his name again?” Jaemin then types into the chatroom, trying his best to recall that smiley boy’s name he chased around kindergarten with a carton of chocolate milk. He remembers that the boy loved it, and he always had that in his lunch box for some reason.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t remember but Renjun should,” Donghyuck replied not long after, “or else Jaemin is going to be spending the entire night trying to remember his name instead of celebrating his birthday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up,” was all Jaemin could send, making Donghyuck send him a ton of laughing emoticons in return. Renjun then gets out of his ‘typing…’ state and a message pops up. “His name started with J, right? Jeno or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jeno? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin thinks out loud. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seems like it,” Donghyuck responds, to which Jaemin scratches his head. He can see the face of the young boy but for some reason, the name Jeno won’t seem to fit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you guys sure?” he types out, the message immediately being marked read by his two friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually, they don’t reply, which doesn’t really surprise him since they were often knocked out early into the day. In fact, this was the most active their chatroom had been ever since they made it, and it's been up since the fifth grade. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He checks the time again and it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> at 10:20. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Huh, will you look at that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin smiles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He closes their chatroom tab and goes back to typing out his college application when he hears another knock on his door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His mother’s voice speaks up another time. “Nana, sweetie, you’re still up?” she asks, listening intently through the other side of the door. Jaemin remains silent, fingers hovering above his laptop keyboard. He waits until he hears her shuffle away from his bedroom again and he continues to finish his application.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would, actually, already go to sleep. If it wasn't for the fact that the pressure of a graduating student was all dawning on him at this hour. He really has to celebrate his birthday drowning in college emails, applications and text messages asking for the time he's available to schedule an interview.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's not like Jaemin is going to be dragged from hell and back with this. He's prepared all his life just for it, and his friends like to press on him that being so focused on studying shouldn't become a personality trait.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Though, he had high expectations for himself. Not even his parents expect much from him. But it shoots acid into his system whenever he sees the name of his one lifetime goal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Seoul University.</span>
  </em>
  <span> That was the one thing he believed held his every achievement in life, with just two words of a name. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He fills in his application with a fast beating heart, growing nervous as he nears the end of writing it. He goes to add in the finishing touches, closes his laptop and groggily drags himself over to his bed. He stares into the ceiling of his bedroom, wondering in the somewhat confounding corners of his mind, what’s gonna happen next.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had less than 2 hours now to decide on how he wants his life to turn out to be because by the time he's grown a year older, his life would be either all about his dream college or be set on meeting someone he knows only by name. The latter being the one who seemed to more likely happen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He frowns at that, thinking that he’s wondering about this all too deeply. At the end of it all, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> always up to them to decide whether they'd continue this story together or just hurt each other by looking away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Plus, he’s technically turning into an adult, and he believes he has more than just a soulmate to worry about.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s the responsibility of getting a job since he didn’t want to bother his parents for anymore money, college examinations and the slightest possibility of making it through the semesters just enough to get him a bachelor’s degree (even more difficult if he did pass Seoul University), and tons more he’s yet to stress out about.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought of it all swarmed his head like a crowd of fireflies, thinking about how occupied he’s about to be at this point in his life that he didn't even notice how quickly he was drifting off to sleep.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The alarm clock went off at 7 AM on the Saturday of his birthday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin, per habit, reaches out to shut it down as he yawns, reaching out to grab his phone from his bedside table only for his eyes to catch something odd on his skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He does a double take, reluctantly placing his other hand on the blurred black spots he can make out on the side of his wrist. He tries to flick it away but he’s met with just his skin. He lifts it up closer to his view, squinting as his vision becomes clearer and clearer…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god!” he yells, rushing out of his bedroom. “Mom! Mom! Dad! Dad!” he runs up to them, ignoring the open boxes that had bold 'party decor' written on them, he notes that they aren't done preparing for his birthday but he runs past the boxes and immediately yells, "Look!” as he raises his wrist for both his parents to see. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His mother, who was holding some party decor to hand over to her husband to put up, drops whatever it was—looked like big letters that spelled out happy birthday to Jaemin though—and gasps at the mark on Jaemin’s wrist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have a soulmate!” Jaemin exclaims.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His father almost falls off the ladder he stood on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold on a minute!” Yuta yells, climbing down in quick and [struggling] big steps as he heads over to his obviously eccentric son, taking a hold of his wrist to see the mark for himself. “Have you even ever heard of this person?” Yuta asks, eyes bewildered at the fact his son was… </span>
  <em>
    <span>growing up?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin then scrunches his eyebrows. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t really read the name due to his sincere excitement, so he carefully retrieves his hand back from his father to finally take a good look at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a deep breath, tilting his hand to read the intricately written letters and finds the name a great surprise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There it was, in bold ink etched permanently on his skin, the name: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jeno</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin can barely believe it. “I…” he opens his mouth, reading the name over and over again in his head to find that hit of nostalgia.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he doesn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I… Uh...” he hesitates, looking up to see the (massive) genuinely worried looks on his parent’s faces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gulps. What is he supposed to say? That his soulmate was someone he has no recollection of other than the fact that he liked </span>
  <em>
    <span>chocolate milk</span>
  </em>
  <span>? That Jaemin’s memory of him was so distant and faded, he’s not even sure if he was actually real?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so, Jaemin decides to do the most impulsive thing he could think of: lie through his teeth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I… have.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At that, both of them let out sighs of relief as Yuta pulls his son into a tight hug. “Happy birthday, my Nanabee, why don’t we celebrate your birthday </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>soulmate with some breakfast?” he offers. Jaemin forces a big grin on his face, nodding as he pulls his father into the dining room, unable to believe that he’s lied right into his parents' faces</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Surprisingly, breakfast went well for him. He's glad his family hadn't brought up the topic about this "soulmate" thing and spared him the awkward laughter he had practiced in his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soon enough, he was already out the door after breakfast, readying himself to meet his best friends in the nearby park as their celebration or 'birthday bash' as Donghyuck insisted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was always that comfortable silence that would fall on the three of them whenever they decided to join each other in one space. They liked to have that thinking time and when one of them speaks, the conversation doesn't end.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walk on to their usual hangout, a distant and yet simple constructed park a couple of miles away from each of their homes. The reason for their occasional visits there was because of the lake right at the edge of it, which leads to a river that extends to a sea somewhere in the distance, has the most exquisite view of the sunset.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Back then, they didn’t really intend on finding this place — it was really more of an accident.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It all started around first grade when the three of them: Donghyuck, Renjun, and Jaemin, planned to ride their bikes out one bright and sunny day. Everything was going great for them, playing racers and challenging one another on who would be the fastest. They didn’t have much care in the world. In fact, they were so excited about their new pair of wheels that it took them a little while to realize that they then had no idea where they were.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The neighborhood looked different and yet so familiar at the same time that the poor boys got confused. Donghyuck even started to cry (not that anyone had to know).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they peddle away to their little heart’s content, baby Donghyuck still sniffling in his bike seat, they stumble upon this seemingly abandoned park. It had no one inside, the fence of it stretching on over to the nearest house over to a dock over by the lake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Renjun, intrigued then, ushered the other two to follow along with him. Jaemin and Donghyuck, heaving their bikes on their side, did as they were told until they reached the docks by the lake, where they found Renjun piling himself a good amount of pebbles and started skipping one of each across the lake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He then suggested that they stay in the park and wait for their parents to call for help, which the other two immediately agreed to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They resorted to telling each other funny stories or about things that you could shove into your ears as some kind of way to distract themselves. They would sometimes splash each other, play a couple of rounds of tag, up until they were at the peak of exhaustion that they even intended to sleep on the docks, had they not heard the loud calls of police sirens in the distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, each of their parents were furious at them, which resulted in the Great Grounding of 08, but with that they eventually found a place to always come back to. A place that made them feel safe and at peace with one another. A place where they’ll be found.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so, as time passes, they decide to claim the park as their own as it will always remind them of when their friendship became thicker than the lake’s water.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin stood by Renjun, who was busy collecting pebbles to see which one he would be able to skip the farthest, a habit he’s made years ago whenever he's thinking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the usual cloudy Saturday. Jaemin was fortunate enough to have his friends go out with him to their hangout when they could have been filling in their college applications and being written down to be scheduled for interviews.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And yet, here they are, by the lake just for Jaemin's birthday. Besides, he's the only one from their group of three that hasn't turned 18 yet—until today that is, and they didn't want to miss it for the world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Walking from behind them, Donghyuck takes a seat on the edge of the docks. "A soulmate, huh?" he says, gesturing for Jaemin to scoot closer. The younger does as he’s told and holds up his wrist for the other to take a look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck then lets go of Jaemin's wrist and looks at Renjun wide-eyed. "Yo!" he calls out to the boy throwing pebbles, "have you checked the tattoo out? You won't believe the name written!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin watches as Donghyuck stands up to walk up to Renjun. He grabs hold of the elder's arm and drags him towards Jaemin, who was silently watching their every move, and he points to the latter's arm. All three of them then drop their gaze to Jaemin's inked skin and Jaemin closes his eyes as the goosebumps rise all over his body once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What does it say?" Renjun asks, his tone soft, clearly intrigued. Jaemin then gives his wrist to Renjun to look, knowing that he should start getting used to this as more people will be dropping in to look at it by these coming weeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He then hears Renjun let out a light 'woah' as he rubs a finger lightly on the tattooed area. "Jeno? Like the same guy we were talking about last night?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin shrugs, taking his arm back. "I haven't even remembered the guy's name and I still think it isn’t Jeno." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck scoffs. "What makes you so keen on thinking it isn't his name?" he yells, seeing as Jaemin stands up, walking away from them. He walks over to the top of the slopest hill in the park and stares at the view of the lake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm not keen on that," he speaks, still entranced by the water, "I’ve lived my life thinking that guy, supposedly named Jeno, was made out of my imagination or something."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was quiet for a moment, so quiet that Jaemin had to look over at them to check if they heard him, but they did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Renjun squints his way as he follows behind Jaemin. He scoffs. "Just because he disappeared right after kindergarten doesn't mean he was just your imagination.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin rolls his eyes. "Only the both of you seem to remember him," he mumbles, jumping off the elevated ground and back to where they were all standing together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck starts walking to the hill as well, busying himself with the bag of chestnuts he brought handy. He knew Jaemin would save his birthday treat for lunch and he gets hungry sometimes, especially when his friends were busy recollecting thoughts in silence. He then looks at Jaemin after cracking one open.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's because the other kids were dumb," he says, sitting on Jaemin’s left, “And Jeno was a quiet dude, you're the one who solely liked to give him attention."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Which, by the way, is not like you at all since you </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> receiving attention.” Renjun interjects. The younger turns to him, deeply offended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>not.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Renjun bites back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin persists. “Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Donghyuck answers this time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me?” The victim exclaims, glaring over at the latter intently. “Whose side are you even on?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck doesn’t answer as he laughs instead, Renjun following suit. Jaemin, unable to hinge himself in the presence of laughter, lets out a healthy amount of amused chuckles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s moments like these that Jaemin cherishes the most. What's better than being glad around your two best friends, the ones you've lived almost your entire life with, the people who gives this lonely and dim world a splash of color to Jaemin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wouldn’t have any clue what to do without them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Jaemin can't help but let his mind drift to further train of thought about the name on his skin. It'll only be in a few months until he meets him, or maybe years, he won't be long that's for sure. Jaemin feels a mix of nervous and excitement churn in his stomach that he almost bursts into another fit of giggles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He purses his lips and takes a seat next to Donghyuck, who was now completely immersed into finishing the bag of chestnuts, and starts to build up scenarios on how he'd see that Jeno guy or whoever he is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Would they enroll in the same college and meet there? Does he get a job in the nearest mall and he serves him his food or something? Would he be some kind of rich heir, destined to inherit his family’s fortune but he has an evil twin brother who wants it for himself so he bumps into Jaemin while he tries to escape?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin was so busy with his (immensely exaggerated) fantasy that he doesn't catch the way Renjun stares at him with a frown. He catches himself, deciding that he’d go back to where he once was by the docks, throwing the pebbles into the waters, only giving his best friend glances every now and then. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the sun finally rises, Jaemin decides he'll bring the two over to the nearby diner to spend his birthday money on them. He doesn't mind the price of the food they'll get, the sight of his friends feasting on the good food was enough to remind him that he had received the best gifts way before his birthday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's why there was nothing but laughter and loud bickering as their crowd of three stands in front of the counter, Renjun and Donghyuck merely beating each other up on choosing which side dish to order.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not that one, you punk, you want Jaemin to go broke?" Donghyuck stares Renjun down but the elder doesn't get swayed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rolls his eyes. "As if the cheesy chili fries doesn't cost only a few bucks less than this one!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin sighs, pushing past the both of them with a smile on his face. "One order of the cheesy fries and one order of the mozzarella sticks please." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence emits from behind him. Doing that, he turns back to the both of them with a smirk and a raised eyebrow to be met with wide-eyed teenagers looking at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ohmygod,” Renjun lets out a baffled whisper. “He’s gone insane, this is all your fault!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck turns to him with a scandalized look, hand dramatically over his chest. "Me?! You're the one who wanted those mozzarella sticks!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin goes through five minutes worth of more arguing from them. (Which he doesn't mind, it’s practically white noise to him at this point.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s only stood a good few meters away from them for five minutes of his life that he can't take back, and silently laughed at how silly they looked. The guy behind the cashier was already staring at them in disbelief, looking quite relieved that the fighting was already done. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They take the nearest table by the cashier, hearing as the guy announces their orders to the mic. The music, a vaguely familiar melody of some kind, proceeds to play through the speakers above them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How does it feel to be 18 now?" Donghyuck asks with a sly grin, lifting one leg up on the seat, cornering Renjun to the side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Renjun pinches the other boy by the skin on his rib part, earning a loud whimper from the younger. "Sit properly,"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin hears and he giggles to himself. "It feels nice," he confirms. "Oh?" was all that Renjun replied before Donghyuck flicks his forehead to lean into the table to be nearer to Jaemin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How nice? Is it because of the soulmate?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin hesitates to shake his head but he does. "I mean, hearing stories of you and your soulmates, I guess it's impossible for me not to be a little excited to have my own, right?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The eldest scoffs at that remark, eyes darting to look at him to find him looking through his wallet for something. "I'm not saying Lucas has been awful but soulmates aren't anything special," Renjun mutters, gaze still glued on his wallet but felt the need to explain with the eyes burning on his skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Everyone has their flaws," Donghyuck shrugs. “I’m sure Lucas thinks you’re an absolute pain in the ass too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Renjun lands a slap to his arm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin only nods at what Renjun said. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>soulmates aren't a big deal. He knows that there are plenty of other reasons to be glad about turning 18. However, that was for</span>
  <em>
    <span> them</span>
  </em>
  <span>. For Jaemin, this is the only time he finds a reason to be glad about something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why wouldn't he be happy? It's been 18 long years of being lonely, and even on the year of turning 18, he had to endure becoming the third, sometimes fifth, wheel in times they wanted to get together. It felt like forever to finally be on his way to leave that state of presence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their orders were then served after a long pause of silence. Jaemin had been spacing out a lot today, but the two of them decided it was best not to intrude him. When Jaemin nags, they won't hear the end of it, and they don't have enough patience to pull on if he did start, even if it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> his birthday. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Renjun takes the first piece of french fries, intending to annoy Donghyuck, but notices the way Jaemin was looking at them to start eating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Aren't you going to eat?" He asks, vaguely referring to either Jaemin or Donghyuck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The latter then takes a mozzarella stick with a fork, only for him to grab it with his fingers, before he points it to Jaemin’s direction. "Aren't </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to eat?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The younger snaps out of it and forces out a smile, grabbing one of the mozzarella sticks and taking the smallest bite. "Yeah, sorry. I just have a lot to think about lately," he says through chewing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"College?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Uh," he delays. He wonders if it now would be the best time to discuss it with them, but he decides this is the best topic they’ve got. "Yeah."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck chugs down the glass of iced tea before he speaks. "Thinking about Seoul University again? You do know that you're on the top of our batch, you won't even give them a single drop of sweat."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you just drink from my glass?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whose say was it that it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>yours</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Your name wasn’t on it, buster.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why you-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean, it’s nice that you think that but I mean,” Jaemin replies, trying to avert Renjun’s intention to strangle the other to him. “College is still a pretty terrifying thing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Donghyuck then lets out a quite annoying 'ha!' making the both of them give him a short lived glare. Donghyuck points to Jaemin again and speaks. "College? Terrifying? Not when you're Na Jaemin."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mentioned boy tilts his head to the side as he eats his meal. Did he say that his friends didn't like the way he made studying a lifestyle for him? There was his evidence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Jaemin's a human too," Renjun begins to explain, glancing from his food to Jaemin. "Even the people who prepares before battle still fall to their knees if they can't help it." Jaemin only looks at the both of them, face void of a readable expression. He had fallen quiet and they could sense he didn't want to hear more of it and they dropped the topic altogether. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was momentarily that comfortable atmosphere in the diner. Though, there was evident tense present in their table, it wasn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>much. (And the guy behind the cashier was beyond glad that they had toned down the ruckus.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We're dropping by for dinner, by the way," Donghyuck perks up to break the ice and it was enough to get Jaemin back to laughing. "Sure, I expected that," was all he said before they proceeded to finish eating and get back to the streets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By 3 PM, they were on their way to Jaemin's house. It wasn't a long walk but they liked to slow down their steps, at times they would even visit a convenience store and eat ice cream along the way. It was an unspoken rule for all three of them to make the most out of the times they're together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe it's the fear of drifting apart that keeps them that way. But they don't talk about it, they wouldn't want to jinx it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>During the walk, Jaemin goes back to thinking about his soulmate. While the two were busy arguing about something new, he removes his hand from his pocket and lays his eyes back on the ink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Last night, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>thinking about Seoul University. He thought he wouldn't care more about anything else aside from it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But here he was, re-reading the name like a broken record, absentmindedly smiling to himself as the image of the boy from kindergarten reappears in his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He remembers how his little feet always found its own way to run back to him. Especially when little Jaemin hears the little boy's cries in the classroom. He was the only one who knew how to cheer him up; he was, in fact, the only one who had the cure to that boy's sadness in his lunch box everyday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He also realizes now that it's his fault that his mother never found out his hatred for milk. Not Jaemin, but that boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Always ready to pull out that milk carton from his lunch box as a child, he never got the chance to explain that he never consumed it at all back then. It was worth it… sort of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin then rubs a little at the tattoo, excited to know what's coming tomorrow, maybe even later if fate decides it's time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was when their footsteps came to a stop and both his friends had ended their fighting with Renjun having the younger in a headlock. "What's on the dinner menu?" he hears Donghyuck ask, quite choked as Renjun wasn't finished with him yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin shrugs. "Probably spaghetti."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hell yeah!” Donghyuck cheers, either from the expected dinner or the freedom Renjun granted him as he let him go. “I always love it whenever your dad cooks.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Said older rolls his eyes, his arms crossed. Donghyuck then walks over to match Jaemin’s pace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, speaking of your dad, how did your parents take the whole soulmate thing?”</span>
</p>
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